CSBA hosted its 28th annual pre-budget press conference today. Since 1984, CSBA has conducted briefings every January to set the stage for the release of the annual defense budget by providing context on federal budget trends and offering prognoses on defense spending. Today’s press briefing included presentations by Todd Harrison, CSBA Senior Fellow, Budget Studies; Stanley Collender, Managing Director of Qorvis Communications; and Jim Thomas, CSBA Vice President and Director of Studies.
CSBA’s Backgrounder, The FY2012 Defense Budget: What to Expect in an Age of Austerity, was released at the press briefing. The document addresses the current status of the FY 2011 defense budget, offers insights stemming from Secretary Gates’ announcement on the FY 2012 budget, and raises budgetary and programmatic issues likely to complicate DoD’s planning over the Future Year Defense Program (FYDP).
“The era of the real increases in defense budgets is drawing to a close,” declared Jim Thomas.
“This year will be a change in path for defense spending and a challenging time for defense contractors,” added Stan Collender.
“With the deficit at $1.5 trillion for FY 2011, and tax cuts taken off the table for at least the next two years, pressure is building to reduce government spending, and DoD is not likely to be immune from this,” said Todd Harrison. “In a period of fiscal austerity, that means DoD will have to accept some risks and divest of lower priority programs and capabilities. But making these hard choices now will free up current and future resources to allow for investments in higher priority capabilities.” He concluded that strategically the FY 2012 budget request appears to be a step in the right direction by eliminating lower priority programs, accepting greater risk in some areas, and investing in higher priority capabilities, while recognizing the fiscal constraints the nation faces.